Danish Superliga’s Viborg takes on new money and an owner link to Notts County
June 24 – Danish investment group Better Collective has acquired a majority stake in Danish Superliga club Viborg FF.
Finance
Former Lille owner Lopez steps in to save Girondins from bankruptcy
June 23 – Former Lille owner Gerard Lopez has stepped forward to save plagued Girondins de Bordeaux from going bust after an agreement was reached according to the Ligue 1 club for an undisclosed sum.
LaLiga tops €5bn in revenue for 2019-20; confident it can ride out covid cash crisis
June 22 – LaLiga has reported total income of €5.045 billion for the 2019-20 season, a 3.6% increase on the 2018-19 despite the impact of the start of the covid pandemic. It is the only one of Europe’s Big 5 leagues of Spain, Italy, England, France and Germany to report income growth.
Barca gets greenlight for €500m+ Goldman Sachs loan
June 21 – Barcelona’s socios have given their approval for a €525 million loan as the club battles with the financial fallout from the pandemic, the failed European Super League attempt, a sky-high player wage bill and infrastructure projects it can’t afford.
Covid-19 pushes major football sponsor Emirates to first-ever annual loss
By David Owen
June 17 – Emirates Group, the Dubai airline which pumps significant sums into football via an impressive quiver of sponsorship agreements, has posted a heavy loss for the strongly Covid-19-impacted 12 months to end-March 2021 – its first ever annual deficit.
Demand for Argentina Fan Token sees extra launch batch sell out in 30 seconds
June 14 – Socios.com have had an overwhelming response to the launch of the Argentina national team Fan Token, increasing its all-time record of users on the app by 50% and triggering a decision to launch an extra batch of tokens.
Foden tops Euro transfer value ranking at €190m, followed by Greenwood and Rashford
June 11 – Manchester City starlet Phil Foden tops a ranking of European Big-5 league players by transfer value, coming in at a whopping €190 million.
Povlsen takes €13m stake in Denmark’s FC Midtjylland
June 7 – Retail behemoth Anders Holch Povlsen has invested in leading Danish outfit FC Midtjylland to obtain 25% of the shares and become the club’s second largest shareholder after owner Matthew Benham.
Real Madrid top valuation ranking, man Utd drop to 3rd. Pandemic drops total valuation by €6bn+
By Paul Nicholson
May 27 – The pandemic has knocked €6.1 billion off the value of Europe’s leading 32 clubs, according to the latest annual football club valuation report from the KPMG Football Benchmark team.
FIFA budgets on $4.666 of revenue for 2022
May 25 – FIFA’s members have passed a projected budget based on $4.666 billion of revenue for 2022, the first year of a new four year cycle that has the financially underpinning World Cup in Qatar – albeit at the end of the year.
New UEFA report anatomises Europe’s post-covid cost control challenge
By David Owen
May 24 – For years, cost control has proved elusive in football. While revenue growth was the envy of most other industries, the issue was manageable. But with the covid crisis coinciding with pressure on the broadcasting rights valuations that have been football’s gold-mine for so long, the reckoning has arrived.
Houston MLS and NWSL clubs set for $400m sale
May 21 – The MLS’s Houston Dynamo and NWSL’s Houston Dash are being sold to New York businessman and real estate mogul Ted Segal for about $400 million.
Goldman Sachs ease Barca cash crunch with €500m loan
May 20 – Embattled Spanish giants FC Barcelona have secured a €500 million loan from US bank Goldman Sachs to ensure the club’s operations can run stably in the next two years.
Bundesliga clubs turn down private equity cash to go it alone, ‘for now’
May 19 – Bundesliga clubs have turned down interest from private equity investors expressing an interest in investing in a minority stake in the newly created entities that will sell the league’s international rights.
Bundesliga clubs to vote on €500m private equity bidders
May 17 – The German Football League’s (DFL) raising of €500 million from venture capital markets will move into the next phase on Wednesday when club vote on plans that effectively move second round bidders into a final negotiation for a stake in the Bundesliga’s overseas rights.